June 26, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
An online effort to assist entrepreneurs in developing countries served as inspiration when a hospital foundation in Grand Rapids, Mich., decided to expand its Internet fund raising.
Officials at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Spectrum Health Foundations say they looked to the successful example of Kiva.org when they designed their new giving site.
Kiva is a San Francisco organization, founded in October 2005, that allows people to make loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Loans made through the charity’s Web site now total more than $27-million.
The hospital foundation adapted Kiva’s strategy of letting donors direct their giving by creating an online wish list. Through the new Web site, donors can purchase fetal-heart-rate monitors, phone and gas cards for families whose children are being treated at the hospital, equipment for the rehabilitation department, and other items.
“Some donors really like to know where their gifts are going,” says Vicki Weaver, president of the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Spectrum Health Foundations.
The new Web site also allows supporters to set up personal pages that they can use to encourage friends and family members to give to the hospital. If they want, they can raise money for a particular department or an item on the wish list.
“So somebody could say, ‘I’ve had a baby in the neonatal unit. I really noticed that they could use more of this item. Would you join our family in helping to make that possible?’” says Ms. Weaver.
The site has been online in a “quiet phase” since February as the foundation tests it to make sure that everything is working properly. In that time, Internet gifts have totaled nearly $19,000, and 80 percent of the contributions made through the site have come from first-time donors.
To get there: Go to http://www.spectrum-health.org.
